Usmanov – I don’t want a place on the Arsenal Board, I just love the club!

Posted on September 29, 2012 by admin

The second biggest Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has made an interview which seems to be a peace offering to Stan Kroenke in which he declares that he has never petitioned for a place on the Arsenal Board, but just wants the club to stop selling their best players and so increase their chances of winning a trophy.

This seems to be the only complaint he has about how things are going at the club. Usmanov said: “Nobody can convince fans that the club is doing fine if for the past three or four years the club has been selling its best players.

“It doesn’t matter who our extremely talented coach, Arsene Wenger, buys to plug these holes if we want to win trophies.”

“I’m an absolute fan of Arsene Wenger. I support him and I’m confident in him. We think he’s a hero.

“Despite changes in the playing line-up, he keeps the variations of the same beautiful game.”

Although the letter from Usmanov a while ago seemed to critize Kroenke’s policies, he is now calling for everyone to support the club whatever happens in the future. He said: “Arsenal received our letter. We didn’t mean it as a hostile message or a declaration of war.”

“We are tired of being accused of fighting for a place on the board. We have never in our lives asked for this place.”

“The season is beginning — we must close this discussion and support the club, coach and players.”

“I never say we need to spend enormous money for any players but we must have the capacity.”

But he also reiterated that he would not be selling his shares in the forseeable future either. “If you sell what you love you lose yourself.” he said. “For now, we stay in Arsenal as shareholders as long as we don’t lose our love for this club. Now we wish it support and great victory.”

Especially on a day like this with such an important game ahead of us, everyone on the board, in the stands, and all around the world, just need to get behind Arsene Wenger and whatever Arsenal team he picks as we all pull together for a famous victory…..

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Arsenal legend blames the Board for lack of trophies

The ex-Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg has just retired from football at 35 years of age, and he has taken the opportunity to celebrate his glory days at Arsenal, where he won two League titles and three FA Cup Winners medals. But he remembers that Arsene Wenger used to buy in top stars every year, and thinks that the Frenchman doesn’t get the same support from the board as he used to in those wonderful times.

‘I am a fan like everyone else and I want us to win trophies,’ Ljungberg said. ‘That hasn’t happened for seven years and maybe Arsene Wenger doesn’t get the funding.

‘All I know is that when I was at Arsenal, every summer he was able to bring in a big signing, a proven winner.

‘Thierry Henry came as a World Cup winner, and then Robert Pires arrived. He was also aWorld Cup and, like Thierry, a Euro winner as well.

‘We were able to get Sol Campbell, who was one of the best central defenders in the world at the time.

‘They were people who knew what it takes to win. It happened like that every year. We had a really squad, but Arsene was able to make it better, make it stronger.

‘That doesn’t seem to happen now. It is unfair to just blame Arsene because he is a fantastic manager.

‘I just hope that he can be given the money to fund the transfers he wants. I wouldn’t know if the board is giving Arsene the money to do that.’

‘We were a special squad. Everyone was an established star in his own right, but we worked as a team, as a unit.

‘It was a great time to be at Arsenal. I just hope those days come back.’

It is easy to look back with rose-tinted glasses at the end of your career, but he must also see the improvement in the ground and the facilities that have been put in place for the future at Arsenal. It’s not all doom and gloom Freddie!

COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FRIENDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS! NEW IDEA!! If A comment is deemed EXTRA SPECIAL I reserve the right to sopy it and use it as an article in its own right. (Edited of course!)

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Arsenal Debate: Why Usmanov MUST have a seat on the Board…

Usmanov Debate: Should Red & White holdings be invited onto the Arsenal board? By SC

Arsenal FC is a unique football club. It always has been. All of us want to see our club prosper and remain within the elite rankings of the sport; however, we do to an extent, share different beliefs about the approach the club should take in order to achieve this. There has been huge debate recently about the current management style of the board of directors, and of course, one Alisher Usmanov – the man who thinks he is the answer to all our prayers. Now, before making a decision about what we, the fans, actually want to happen, it is important to look at both sides of the argument.

We are all proud of the consistent performance of the club which has been fuelled by relatively little spending. 15 consecutive years in the Champions League is an achievement in itself and should not be taken for granted. But is this enough for a prestigious club who managed to win the title unbeaten in 38 EPL games? It was that heroic team which won ‘best team’ in BBC’s Premier League: 20 season’s awards. After that, I think we were all hoping that we would go on to our era of domination in the EPL and Europe, but sadly, it was not to be. We moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium, which we are still paying for, yet this should not be an excuse for our failure to win a trophy since 2005.

All great teams have great stadiums with a great history, and as of yet, the Emirates has not a single trophy to its name. This has to be put down to our self-sustaining financial model, which has hindered the clubs ability to compete in the transfer market, let alone contract negotiations, the model for which is corrupt to say the least. And who makes these decisions? The board! So I think I am safe to say that change is definitely necessary if we want to see Arsenal bringing home the trophies that we have long been waiting for. The board can protest that they are ambitious, but Peter Hill-Wood summed up the extent of that ambition when he said to the Guardian “it’s not as if we have been relegated.” No shit, Peter!

I hate Man City and Chelsea just as much as any of you, for the way they completely changed the face of British football and turned the game into the “survival of the richest” rather than the natural survival of the fittest. We are fit enough to win the league, without a doubt, but we do not have the financial muscle required.

Alisher Usmanov’s dark history has recently been revealed, and I have my doubts about him regardless of his history. First of all, he admitted he has only been an Arsenal fan for 7 years! Round of applause? I think not. Not only that, but were he to join the board, we would undoubtedly see our “ethical approach” to football deplete. There is no question that he would spend, on players, on wages, and on sponsorships – areas which we criticise other clubs for spending too heavily on. None of us want to see Arsenal buy the title, it is not our way, we want to earn it and deserve it.

However, we can wish and want all we like, but the facts remain. Football is changing, success is becoming dependant on investment – like it or not. If we do not adapt to change, we will begin to decline. The reality is that we do not have the strength and depth in the squad to see out a whole season, we do not have quality cover for injured players, and we do not have the option of rotation to maintain fitness of our key players. That being said – we are not far off. We managed third this season and showed serious signs of the spirit that our invincible team possessed. There is no question that Wenger has a way of inspiring the young players, and his position in my eyes is set in stone until he decides otherwise. Usmanov clearly stated in his letter to the board that he supports the manager:

As a consequence of this policy, which is dressed up as prudent financial planning, it is down to our manager, and not the shareholders, to have to deal with the Club’s tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements. All of that, naturally, comes at the expense of performance on the pitch.

I believe that the current board’s reluctance to invest is costing Wenger his chance to become the greatest manager of all time. To be considered the best he knows he must win the Champions League and right now we are a long way from that, especially if we lose RVP. There are no signs coming from the club that an equivalent replacement will be purchased should RVP leave -just as there were not equivalent replacements for Fabregas and Nasri last season. Usmanov would not allow this. “We want the absolute best for the Club and will do what is necessary to ensure the success of the Club that we all love.” Whether you believe his statement or not, he would not have publically released the letter if he were not willing to follow up on his intentions should he get the opportunity to do so. The results of the AST survey show that 82% are in favour Red & White Holdings to be invited onto the board, compared to 70% in 2011. If you would like to read the AST 2012 Survey results then visit this link (http://arsenaltrust.org/resources/documents/1341846103ast-questionaire-2012-results-v5.pdf)

As fans we are all entitled to our own opinion. However, in summary I will say this. The current board are extremely disrespectful to Usmanov, not only are they refusing him a seat on the board of the club which he owns almost 30% of (Usmanov has a seat on Dynamo Moscow board but does not own any shares) but they do not even have the decent business etiquette to approach him regarding a sponsorship deal with MegaFon –a company which he owns 50% of. We can argue that he only sees Arsenal as a great business opportunity for himself, but I believe that is all the current board see in Arsenal – an opportunity to line their own pockets – and they do not bring us fans any success in doing so, which I think is the key difference between Kroenke and Usmanov – the desire to bring success to the club.

I leave you with this quote from Usmanov: “You can try and put a good face on a bad game for as long as you want, pontificating about the merits of this model, but it will not hide the obvious fact that it just does not allow our great manager to fully realise his managerial talent and deliver success for the fans who are paying the highest prices in the land.”

If you would like to have your say on this situation, I invite you to vote on my webpage:

www.fan-shout.com

Take it easy gooners.
SC

COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FRIENDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS! NEW IDEA!! If A comment is deemed EXTRA SPECIAL I reserve the right to sopy it and use it as an article in its own right. (Edited of course!)

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Arsenal News: Usmanov criticises board in open letter [Letter in full]

The recent open letter by captain and talisman Robin van Persie has prompted Arsenal’s second largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov to take advantage of the situation and release his own open letter criticising the board.

There has been much deliberation over both Kroenke and Usmanov by Arsenal fans and it seems the tug-of-war between the two seems to be getting more and more intense.

Dear Sirs,

In recent weeks a couple of separate actions have occurred, which have caused us, as a near 30% shareholder in the Club, to have serious concerns about the approach of the Board and the management team:

Firstly, there were some very deliberate and public comments by Ivan Gazidis which were intended to leave the Club’s supporters with an impression that Red & White is in some bitter stand-off with the Board over its desire for a Board seat and that our involvement on the Club’s Board might cause conflict and “destabilize” the Club; andSecondly, OJSC MegaFon (Russia) received a cold call letter from Mr Gazidis requesting a meeting to discuss a possible international partnership deal including shirt sponsorship. MegaFon is one of the three largest mobile phone companies in Russia and also happens to be over 50% owned by Alisher Usmanov. Is this really the level of professionalism that is being applied to securing long-term commercial contracts?

Let us not forget that we have invested circa £200 million of cash in the equity of the Club. We are part of this Club and naturally want the best for it, but our investment is less important than the fact that we are loyal supporters and will never do anything that would destabilize or “create conflict” at the Club.

We do however believe that you, the Board, and the executive management team should focus your energies on the most efficient operation of the Club and desist from seeking to create a false enemy in Red & White. In our view it is clear that you are trying to distract attention from the more fundamental issues facing the Club, and which indeed many of the supporters discuss through social media sites and other forums on a regular basis. These are the financial model, the lack of investment and the Club’s future strategic direction.

However, before addressing these points, it is important to deal with the issues surrounding a Board seat for Red & White once and for all. As you all know well, Mr Usmanov has never sought for himself a Board seat at the Club. Indeed Mr Usmanov does not hold any board seat in any of the companies where he is an investor. Since the purchase of our first share in the Club, we have not only steadfastly adhered to a policy of non-interference in the running of the Club, but have consistently supported the management and given no reason whatsoever to be accused of subversion or sabotage. The history of our voting in support of the Board at the annual general meetings is proof of this.

Indeed, in any conversation about conflict, it is clear from a look at the history of the Club in recent years that the Board has achieved conflict without the help of any outside parties, notably the acrimonious departures of David Dein, Keith Edelman, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and Richard Carr, who then reappeared on the Football Club Board. You also instituted a lock-down agreement originally to prevent Mr Kroenke from gaining control and then, later, to exclude our involvement even though there were no grounds or need to do so.

The real conflict seems to be between the supporters’ expectations and your vision for the Club and at the heart of this is the policy of so-called self-financing. The self-financing model was created to suit the major shareholders at the time, all of whom subsequently sold their shares.

The previous decision by the Board to fund the building of the Emirates Stadium with long-term debt was, we believe, certainly not about self-financing. If it had been, it would have been funded through a mixture of debt and non-dividend equity. Instead it allowed, in our view, the major shareholders of the time, who happened to all be Board directors, to load the Club with a liability, to benefit from increased future revenue streams and consequent increase in the value of their holdings, whilst avoiding dilution of their equity. The Board of the time then appeared to pursue a policy of increasing ticket prices and squeezing the fans to cover the short term cost increases which allowed them to bridge until all of these shareholders and Board directors sold 100% of their holdings and cashed out at vast profits.

This policy does not seem to have changed. We have sought and been refused any meetings with Mr Kroenke despite the fact that we own almost 30% of the Club or to put another way almost 1 in every 3 seats in the stadium. It is clear that our stated policy for the major shareholders, namely Mr Kroenke and ourselves, to inject non-dividend paying equity into the Club by way of a rights issue to reduce the debt and invest in the future is of no interest to the Board. Mr Kroenke was sold a vision by the Board at the time that the Club could be successful without further investment, so he is pursuing a similar policy which is to run the Club without any investment and to avoid any dilution of his equity, a good part of which was funded by a loan from Deutsche Bank AG to KSE, UK, Inc. at the time of the mandatory offer. The status of that loan and whether it is still outstanding has not been clarified by Mr Kroenke.

As a consequence of this policy, which is dressed up as prudent financial planning, it is down to our manager, and not the shareholders, to have to deal with the Club’s tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements. All of that, naturally, comes at the expense of performance on the pitch.

This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors, and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the Club and the Club’s ambitions. The situation with our captain and outstanding performer from last season Robin van Persie sums this up. Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player at the Club because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies. Where are the safeguards to ensure that this doesn’t happen again and again in the future? As a top Club we should, at the very least, match if not beat the offers that other clubs make to try and lure our very best players away, and also provide a more compelling vision of the future. You can try and put a good face on a bad game for as long as you want, pontificating about the merits of this model, but it will not hide the obvious fact that it just does not allow our great manager to fully realize his managerial talent and deliver success for the fans who are paying the highest prices in the land. It appears that a place in the Champions League will be the pinnacle of our ambition again next season. Unfortunately, in the future we may see this ambition lowered further. It doesn’t help to turn a blind eye to the reality of the situation and keep thinking of ourselves as being in the same league as Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona. To have a fighting chance of success, which means winning trophies, we need to match them in every aspect, including, if not first and foremost, financial.

So what is Red & White’s vision for the Club? It is simple. A debt free Club, with a big enough war chest to buy top talent players who can hit the ground running and who can complement the Club’s long tradition of developing young players and homegrown talent. Together they can help the Club win the most prestigious trophies – because it is the trophies which are the crowning achievement for everybody at the Club. The trophies are also key to the commercial success of the Club – they increase the value of the players, the value of the brand, attract the best sponsors and maximize the value of our commercial contracts which should in turn mean that the Club does not have to squeeze any more income from hard pressed fans. We also believe in the transparency that a stock market listing brings so are committed to the Club remaining listed on the stock exchange and to greater fan involvement both through share ownership and also Board representation for the fans.

Today we wish the majority shareholder Mr Kroenke every success in running the Club, even though we have deep reservations about the viability of the policies being pursued by his management team and sanctioned by the Board.

Finally and reflecting our long-term commitment to the Club, we will continue to purchase more shares in the Club from anyone who wants to sell them to us. Also in order to formalize our long-term involvement with the Club and put an end to any speculation over our position, we, as the co-owners of Red &White, will proudly retain our holding in the Club as a long-term investment for ourselves and our family members to benefit for generations to come. We want the absolute best for the Club and will do what is necessary to ensure the success of the Club that we all love.

Yours sincerely,

Alisher Usmanov

Farhad Moshiri

Personally speaking, it is pretty clear here that Usmanov is taking advantage of fans who are obviously feeling anger towards the situation surrounding Robin van Persie. Glorifying Wenger, criticizing the board and promising significant funds are all initiatives that would appease a majority of Arsenal fans.

The debate over Usmanov has been hotly contested by Arsenal fans with many suggesting that we have come to far under our current model to simply throw it all away and become the next Chelsea or Manchester City run by some suger-daddy with supposed ‘bad intentions’.

On the other side of the coin however, surely it is not a coincidence that since Kroenke took over Arsenal has been falling apart every transfer window, losing marquee players and merely replacing them with cheaper alternatives. Something must be done to stop this.

What do you guys think? Is it a story of suger-daddies versue leeches? If so who would you prefer? Have any more information to add? Is Wenger the Dark Knight in all of this? Feel free to leave a comment below!

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Why are the Arsenal Board scared to invest in the club?

Posted on July 09, 2012 by admin

 

Why do the board and Wenger fear spending money and allowing Investment from Usmanov? And why do they allow us to be the laughing stock of the premier league??

There have been countless articles on here about the on going Kroenke / Usmanov debate and this in turn leads to the RVP saga and back even further to Samir Na$ri and beyond. I am well aware that I run the risk of being shellacked by many of you on here for bringing this up and highlighting the negatives rather than being blindly positive and hoping for the best.

However of all the articles I’ve read on here regarding this subject I have never heard anyone bring up the most important issue of all and that what are the Board and Wenger scared of regarding their financial situation? And why are the Board and AW allowing us to become an absolute laughing stock in the eyes of the footballing world?

Firstly let’s address the first issue, we are constantly told by mostly pro Kroenke supporters and occasionally by the board that the clubs current financial plan is in place to avoid the possibility of being dependant on one super rich investor who may potentially walk away and leave us deeply in debt and even more deeply in trouble. The argument for this cites the rivals we have in the premier league I.e. Chelsea and more recently Man City and the FFP rules that FIFA have been promising to bring in over the last few years.

However we have to look at this in a real sense and know that the likes of Roman Abramovich are about as likely to walk away from Chelsea after so much investment as Stan Kroenke is likely to put any money into our club. He has been at Stamford Bridge for a number of years now and shows no signs at all of wanting to desert the club especially now that they have won the champions League. The investors at City are of an equally stoic persuasion and are hardly likely to invest millions and then just pull away without warning. Why then would AFC be soooo scared of One Alisher Usmanov doing just that? When clearly he is a dedicated Arsenal Fan?

Or is it that the current Board made a huge sum of money for their personal fortunes by allowing Stan Kroenke onto the board as majority share holder and now have to block Unmanov as he is in all reality a major rival of Koneke’s and would also be able to “see the books” and any improprieties that have gone on??.

The so called FFP ruling that FIFA have been promising for so long will be a watered down “easy to bypass” set of half rules that the fianancial giants that run the likes of PSG and Barcelona will easily sidestep in order to carry on as usual. So why is the Arsenal Board apparently so scared of both of these issues?? Are they really that naïve? Or is it down to a different internal issue? After all Peter Hill-Wood once said that they would not sell out to foreign investors and then blocked Usmanov and allowed Kroenke in – well why is an American any less foreign than an Uzbek??

Secondly and probably more importantly why are we the fans, the ones who make the club what it is, the ones who pay the bills by buying the shirts and spending the money on the season tickets, and all the other stuff etc. We’re the ones who season after season have to endure the ridicule of other fans who mock us for being a feeder club to other bigger investors, and for showing no ambition and no will to win. We are constantly berated in the press and even our old guard who achieved such glory have come to realise that our current policies will take us nowhere. Why there is no concern and no information coming out that can alleviate this??

For the proud fans of our glorious and historic club?? How long do they think this will be allowed to continue?? And why do they not realise that globally the Arsenal brand is coming to represent lies, mistruths and disinformation – rather than honesty, good investment and successful footballing campaigns. Wenger’s policies worked once but that was before big investment negated his skills and efforts. The day has passed where Wenger would have bought in the likes of Eden Hazard for a few million and turned him into a super star because now Wenger only has to look at a player and every other club with bigger wallets now buy these players! Is Arsene Wenger not a victim of his own success??

If the board fear a financial global meltdown in the footballing world, what good would it be to be the last Club standing?? If there is no clubs left to play? Likewise how will it benefit the likes of City if they have every top class player in the world and no one can compete with them? The Arsenal Board is trying to stop the destruction of football as we know it but by doing so they run a very real risk of destroying their own club in the process.

Tradition and history are built on success not on mediocrity……

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Robin van Persie's decision not to renew contract gives Alisher Usmanov opportunity to attack Arsenal board

In a wide-ranging and scathing five-page letter, Usmanov accused Arsenal's board, which is led by majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, of selling the club’s best players and replacing them with cheaper alternatives. He also expressed his “deep reservations” about their policies, which he claimed were causing players to question their futures and the club’s ambitions.

The timing of the letter, less than 24 hours after Van Persie’s announcement that he would not sign a new contract, could hardly have been worse for Arsenal. The club, however, maintain that they are fully committed to a self-funding approach which, they argue, will secure both their long-term future and ultimately also offer the best chance of success.

This view is evidently not shared by Usmanov or Van Persie, who admitted publicly on Wednesday that he disagreed with Arsène Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis “on many aspects” of how the club should move forward.

Wenger will now seek urgent talks with Van Persie to determine whether the situation is retrievable. Arsenal’s official stance is that they are “confident” Van Persie will see out a contract which does not expire until next year but his release of such a provocative statement, without warning, clearly makes this very difficult.

Although no club can match Manchester City’s financial firepower, it is understood that Van Persie is also attracted by interest from both Juventus and Manchester United. There is pressure to resolve the situation quickly, with Van Persie scheduled to lead Arsenal on their pre-season tour of Asia, beginning on July 21.

Arsenal have already spent £24million this summer on signing two new strikers in Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud but Wenger will meet his scouts next week to determine his other priorities. Fiorentina captain Stevan Jovetic and Poland forward Robert Lewandowski are among the players being monitored.

Usmanov, who owns just under 30 per cent of Arsenal, made it clear that he regards the debt from building the Emirates as the root cause of the club’s recent failure to win trophies and keep key players happy.

With his business partner Farhad Moshiri, he has long called for a rights issue that would release share equity to pay off a debt that peaked at £318million in 2008 but now costs the club around £14?million a year. That would require an extra financial commitment from existing shareholders, primarily Kroenke and Usmanov, although would probably also place penalty bank charges on the club for the early loan repayment.

“It is down to our manager and not the shareholders to have to deal with the club’s tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements,” said Usmanov.

“This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors, and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the club and the club’s ambitions. The situation with our captain and outstanding performer from last season, Robin van Persie, sums this up.

“Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies.”

As well as Van Persie, Theo Walcott is now into the final year of his contract and is the subject of interest from both Chelsea and Paris St-Germain.

“You can try and put a good face on a bad game for as long as you want, pontificating about the merits of this model, but it will not hide the obvious fact that it just does not allow our great manager [Wenger] to fully realise his managerial talent and deliver success for the fans who are paying the highest prices in the land,” said Usmanov.

He also claimed that securing a place in the Champions League “will be the pinnacle of our ambition again next season” and warned that, in the future, “we may see this ambition lowered further”.

View the original article here